Woosh!
Van Thien lunged forward, unleashing a heavy punch straight at the Red-Eyed Black Dragon.
Thud!
Blocking the strike, the Dragon narrowed his eyes.
"You..."
Van Thien merely offered a cold smirk.
"Don't forget about me. I am your opponent here."
Hearing this, the entity curled his lips into a disdainful smile.
"A mere loser who has already tasted defeat by my hand dares to speak so boldly?" He glared at him. "In that case... I shall slaughter you first."
The moment the words left his mouth, he charged, burying a brutal fist into Van Thien's torso.
Thud!
Van Thien raised his arms to block. His face contorted in pain—the punch carried devastating power. The Dragon mocked him openly.
"What's the matter? Weren't you talking big just a moment ago?"
On the shore, where Bao Uyen stood.
"…Brother Thien…" Her voice was soft, but it no longer trembled like before.
Van Thien did not turn around immediately. She glanced toward Hung Dao Dai Vuong, who looked down at her with calm reassurance.
"Fear not, young maiden. When Yết Kiêu strikes, it is the enemy who must pray for their lives, not our people."
Bao Uyen nodded, though her heart still raced with anxiety.
On the front lines, Van Thien and the Red-Eyed Black Dragon continued to trade fierce blows.
As their strikes clashed and canceled each other out, Van Thien's eyes briefly flicked toward Hung Dao Dai Vuong.
"An opening!"
The Red-Eyed Black Dragon seized the split second to deliver a powerful kick straight to Van Thien's abdomen, blasting him backward through the air. Van Thien crashed heavily onto the earth, landing right near where Hung Dao Dai Vuong Tran Quoc Tuan was standing.
Bao Uyen shrieked in terror, "Brother Thien...!"
As the thick dust slowly dissipated, Van Thien forced himself back to his feet. He wiped a streak of blood from the corner of his mouth. Just as he was about to charge back into the fray, the stern, resonant voice of Hung Dao Dai Vuong echoed from behind him:
"Warrior."
Startled, Van Thien swiftly turned his head toward the Lord.
The Great Commander looked at him, then shifted his gaze toward the river where the enemy armada was steadily advancing. He spoke:
"If a great fish wishes to enter the deep abyss, it must ride the current. Advance in harmony with the azure waves beneath the hulls, and do not look back!"
Hearing those words, Van Thien was initially perplexed. But after a brief moment of reflection, the brilliance of the Lord's strategy clicked in his mind. He offered a firm nod of understanding. Standing tall, Van Thien vaulted into the air, charging directly back at the Red-Eyed Black Dragon.
Deep beneath the riverbed, a massive trail of air bubbles swirled into a miniature underwater vortex. Yết Kiêu whipped his powerful arm forward. The rusted iron spike in his grip sliced a brilliant trail of light through the murky water, rocketing toward the underwater stake yard like an arrow unleashed from a bow.
Back on the surface, Van Thien closed the distance, burying a fierce kick into the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's midsection, forcing him to skid backward across the sky. Van Thien stood his ground. The Dragon glared up at him.
"What's the matter...?" He sneered. "Giving up already?"
Van Thien offered no reply. He locked his eyes onto his opponent, then cast his gaze downward at the war vessels below. Suddenly, he dove straight down toward the enemy soldiers standing on the decks.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
He unleashed a rapid sequence of kicks, sending several soldiers flying straight into the river. Without stopping, he bounded across adjacent vessels, systematically kicking every soldier in sight into the rushing waters.
Hovering in mid-air, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon was entirely baffled by his behavior. But suddenly, he gasped as he realized Van Thien was racing directly toward his own command flagship.
The tyrant immediately dropped into a defensive stance. Van Thien materialized before him, throwing a fierce punch, but the Dragon easily parried the strike and shoved him back.
"What exactly are you trying to achieve?!"
Still, Van Thien offered no answer. His eyes scanned the immediate area, locking onto a nearby wooden fishing boat. He dove straight down, landing squarely on the small vessel. He looked up, locking eyes with the Red-Eyed Black Dragon.
"Didn't you say you wanted to kill me?!" Van Thien shouted. "Come and get me if you have the guts!"
With that, he fired up the boat's engine and sped away.
Faced with such blatant provocation, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon erupted in fury. He roared at the top of his lungs:
"All units, listen up! Ignore the pest beneath the water! Focus all parameters and capture that brat at all costs!"
The entire armada thundered in unison:
"UNDERSTOOD!"
Instantly, the massive fleet turned, launching into a relentless pursuit of Van Thien.
Van Thien navigated the small boat, systematically steering the enemy horde toward the designated coordinates. The Red-Eyed Black Dragon and his massive fleet trailed hot on his heels.
On the shoreline, Bao Uyen watched the chase with immense anxiety, while Trần Hưng Đạo remained standing, draped in absolute majesty and calm composure.
Van Thien pushed the engine to its limits, but the enemy vessels were closing the distance. Suddenly, a vanguard enemy warship accelerated, pulling dangerously close to his flank.
Just as the enemy vessel was about to collide with his boat, it abruptly groaned and came to a violent, crushing halt. The hull shrieked under tremendous tension, wood and metal cracking loudly. Despite the engines roaring at maximum capacity, the warship could not advance a single inch, as if tens of thousands of invisible cords of deep-sea kelp had tightly coiled around its stern.
Directly beneath the rudder, the water did not ripple outward; instead, it swirled inward into a localized vortex. A thick, ink-black torrent of mud-like current completely engulfed the steering mechanism, freezing it solid as if filled with molten lead. The helmsman roared, throwing his entire body weight into the wheel, but it refused to budge—as if it had grown roots deep into the riverbed.
While the enemy vessel scrambled in utter chaos over their frozen rudder, Van Thien's boat sliced through the water like a stray arrow. He glanced down at the river surface, a grin breaking across his face.
"Thank you, legendary warrior!"
Behind him, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon gritted his teeth, his face contorted in rage.
"Keep moving! Continue the pursuit!"
The chase raged on.
On the riverbank, Bao Uyen let out a sigh of relief.
Hung Dao Dai Vuong stood tall, his posture completely unyielding and tranquil. His voice rolled out like low thunder:
"The courage of the living weaves seamlessly with the undying will of the departed. Van Thien is the sword; Yết Kiêu is the shield. Together, they are weaving a celestial net across this entire river."
Bao Uyen nodded fervently.
"You are absolutely right, My Lord."
She turned her eyes back toward Van Thien, clenching her fists tightly as absolute resolve filled her gaze.
"You can do this!"
On the river, Van Thien finally reached the designated coordinates.
"This is it!"
But the moment his boat entered the perimeter, he instantly realized something was terribly wrong.
"The tide... it hasn't receded yet."
Beneath him, the river waters were still surging upward with no sign of dropping.
From the bank, Bao Uyen noticed his sudden hesitation. "What's wrong with Brother Thien?"
Hung Dao Dai Vuong narrowed his eyes. "Something is actively binding the flow of the current. Is the Bach Dang River churning its waters to test the absolute loyalty of the sons of the Southern Land?"
Anxiety gripped Bao Uyen's heart. "What do we do now?"
Right then, the necklace around her neck flared with a powerful, radiant pink light. She looked down at the artifact.
"This is...?"
In that split second, memories of her summoning the massive water pillar at the temple gates flooded her mind. She looked at Van Thien, her gaze hardening with absolute determination.
"I have to help Brother Thien."
Without a word, Bao Uyen bolted forward. Hung Dao Dai Vuong stood his ground, making no move to stop her. It seemed the Great Lord understood exactly what the young girl intended to do.
Out on the water, Van Thien was at a complete loss. The massive flagship of the Red-Eyed Black Dragon had already closed the distance, looming directly behind him.
The Dragon looked down at Van Thien, a cruel laugh escaping his lips.
"What's the matter...? Done running?"
Van Thien snapped his head around, his piercing gaze locking onto the tyrant.
The entity curled his lips into a smug smirk. "It seems you have successfully navigated yourself into your own grave."
As his flagship glided forward, the massive armada followed in close formation, completely surrounding the sector.
Van Thien gritted his teeth in agony. Am I truly going to die here...?
But right at that critical moment—
"Brother Thien!"
A familiar, resounding voice cut through the air. He whipped his head around.
"Bao Uyen!"
She stood at the edge of the bank, completely enveloped in a roaring aura of brilliant pink energy.
Van Thien gasped, "What are you planning to do?!"
Bao Uyen locked her eyes onto him. "I am going to help you."
With those words, she closed her eyes and pressed her palms together in a prayer-like seal. A torrent of raw power violently spiraled around her frame. The river waters churned frantically, waves crashing violently against the stone banks.
BOOM!
But as Van Thien focused his eyes, he gasped in shock. The water level... was actively and rapidly dropping.
The necklace around his own neck suddenly erupted with light. And there, faintly visible just beneath the receding surface, rows of towering stakes infused with ancient golden energy began to unveil their jagged tips.